‘Pushpa 2’ stampede case: Allu Arjun appears in court virtually

The incident at Sandhya Theatre at RTC X Road claimed the life of Revathi, 39, while her son Sritej sustained critical injuries.

Hyderabad: Actor Allu Arjun appeared virtually at the Nampally Criminal Court on Monday, July 6, in connection with the Sandhya Theatre Stampede case.

Allu Arjun is currently in Mumbai for a movie shoot. Of the 23 accused in the case, a couple of them did not attend the court proceedings.

The court posted the matter to July 29.

Sandhya theatre stampede

Allu Arjun has been named accused number 11 in the case stemming from the stampede at Sandhya Theatre on December 4, 2024, when massive crowds gathered for the premiere of “Pushpa 2: The Rule.”

The owner, partners, manager, lower-balcony in-charge and gatekeeper of Sandhya Theatre were named as accused No 1 to 10 in the charge sheet

The incident at Sandhya Theatre at RTC X Road claimed the life of Revathi, 39, while her son Sritej sustained critical injuries. On December 24, 2024, she, her husband Bhaskar, and their two children had gone to the screening of ‘Pushpa 2.’

The stampede occurred as fans gathered to catch a glimpse of the actor during the premiere. Allu Arjun, who was present at the theatre at the time of the incident, was booked along with his team and the theatre management for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

He was arrested on December 13, 2024, and was released the next day after the Telangana High Court granted him interim bail. He was later granted regular bail.

Lapses in crowd management

Hyderabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar had said the investigation established lapses in planning, crowd management, security arrangements and coordination among the theatre management, event organisers and private security personnel. The chargesheet was filed before the court on December 24, 2025, with 14 of the accused having been arrested and nine others, who obtained anticipatory bail, served notices.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had earlier expressed dissatisfaction with the police report on the incident, saying the police machinery appeared negligent in providing adequate security despite the size of the crowd.